On Week 2 and Manning Bowl 3

For the third time in three meetings, Eli Manning (right) came up short against brother Peyton.

If you’re attempting to be truly quixotic and/or a little annoying, you could point out that none of the games in the NFL really matter; they won’t dictate foreign policy or help balance your checkbook, and will never be able to explain why you aren’t very good at parallel parking. But in more understandable terms, it is still a little true that the second week of the NFL season isn’t one of the ones that “counts”—it’s early, teams are figuring out where they are and the promise of a 2-0 record isn’t so incredible when you consider it is entirely possible to go 0-14 after that. “All 2-0 teams are not created equal, no matter how hard we try to paint the Broncos, Patriots, and Chiefs with the same broad brush,” writes Sports on Earth’s Mike Tanier.

Even so, some of the games are sure to have repercussions further down the line. It seems unimaginable that the NFC West’s final rankings won’t be affected by Sunday night’s Seattle-San Francisco clash, in which the Seahawks waited out an hour-long weather delay to decisively punk the 49ers in a near shutout. They held Colin Kaepernick to a fraction of his previous week’s yardage, backing it up with the type of gabbiness that is hard to love but easy to respect. Meanwhile, their fans set what must have been a deeply annoying sound record, helping to extend a home undefeated streak that dates back to 2011. If nothing else, the 49ers could be happy that their quarterback kept his eyebrow, giving uncreative Halloween costumes an extra wrinkle. Otherwise, they’ve been outscored 71-19 in their last two games in Seattle. As Sports Illustrated’s Doug Farrar puts it, “It was perhaps the most decisive win of [Pete] Carroll’s career as an NFL head coach—even more so than last season’s 42-13 beatdown of the 49ers in Seattle—precisely because there were parts of the Seahawks’ attack that were questionable, at best.” Part of that questionable attack includes a quarterback who is still learning, but hey, there’s still the other 14 weeks.

Other games won’t carry the same seeding implications, but they were still fun to watch. Peyton Manning was immaculate in another Manning Bowl, throwing two touchdowns and zero interceptions to Eli’s one and four. The Broncos keep looking like a team that will push for the Super Bowl—where a proper Manning Bowl would eclipse the hysteric highs of last season’s Harbaugh Bowl—while the Giants keep looking like one that will never be able to string together a season that’s good from start to finish. “He might very well be the greatest quarterback in the long history of the greatest city in the world,” writes Yahoo’s Eric Adelson of Eli. “But he’s still Peyton’s little brother, and now he’s staring at both 0-2 and 0-3.” Meanwhile, Jay Cutler collected the unbelievably sardonic—given his impressively aloof demeanor—yet somewhat serious moniker of “Mr. Fourth Quarter” in Chicago after throwing a go-ahead touchdown pass with 10 seconds left against the Minnesota Vikings. It’s less serious when you consider that Cutler’s Bears record when entering the fourth quarter after trailing or tied is 7-23, but hey, maybe it’s time to change. “Football purists might have cringed at all the messiness of this game, but there was a terrible beauty to it,” writes the Chicago Sun-Times’s Rick Morrissey. “That pretty much describes Cutler, too, both on this Sunday and lots of other Sundays.”

Elsewhere, Steven Jackson had his “revenge” game against the St. Louis Rams, though he also left with an injury and besides it’s hard to get that vitriolic about whipping a team you had a nice career with. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers lost at the last second, fueling rumors that Josh Freeman will quickly look to get out from Greg Schiano’s iron grip. The Washington Redskins, in an 0-2 hole, are already hearing calls that Robert Griffin III should be benched until his leg looks a little better. The San Diego Chargers figured out you can beat the remodeled Philadelphia Eagles offense by playing well enough to keep them off the field. The Jacksonville Jaguars got blown out—nothing new, except the local affiliate actually apologized for showing it. E.J. Manuel flashed some potential, giving the Bills legion some hope after such a long layover. Again, it wasn’t a Week 2 that may mean that much in the long run. Still, it was fun to watch.

* * *

It might not be the end, because the New York Yankees can still make the playoffs and earn the right to play the Boston Red Sox in the first round. But if that doesn’t happen, then Sunday night’s sendoff of Mariano Rivera will ring even more poignant for fans who got to watch one of the rare modern farewell tours in sports make its sweetest stop. The Red Sox trolled Rivera, basically: they welcomed him to the mound by replaying some of his blown saves, including the one from Game 4 of the 2004 ALCS that opened the door for Boston’s eventual World Series win. But they also had a string quartet play his entrance music, and offered up a slate of thoughtful gifts for him to stare at in retirement. They won the game, too, lessening the chance that Rivera will make it there again.

All through which he remained visibly appreciative, probably buoyed by the memories of all the times he stuck it to the Red Sox in better seasons. “As we learned with Rivera on Opening Day 2005—the moment when he really won over Sox fans—he has a winning willingness to play along with a joke at his expense,” writes the Boston Globe’s Chad Finn. “It’s telling that his response to a mock standing ovation that day—a huge smile and a tip of the cap—is the moment Sox fans discuss most from that remarkable day.” If the farewell tour is going to be brought back, at least it’s being done right.

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